Country Opinion Survey

When it comes to revolutions, the data revolution has certainly been less bloody than, say, those in the 18th and 19th centuries. Equally transformative? A question for historians.

AidData, a research and innovation lab located at the College of William & Mary in the US, set out in 2017, to identify what data decision makers in low and middle-income countries use, whose data they use, why they use it, and which data are most helpful.

Policymakers consult information from the World Bank more than other foreign/international organizations.

If you want opinion leaders in client countries to be aware of the Bank’s data and knowledge, bring it to their attention. If you expect them to find it through an internet search, you might be disappointed.

Opinion leaders are most likely to regard the knowledge and information helpful if it helps them better understand challenging policy issues and will help them develop implementation strategies in response.

Make sure the knowledge and information reflects the local context (be inclusive).

In recent decades, income inequality has risen in most of the developed world and many developing countries. There are plenty of reasons to be worried about income inequality, as it often leads to unequal life opportunities, exacerbates disparities in health and life expectancy, and jeopardizes social unity.

While most of research work on inequality tends to focus on the poor, a recent World Bank Group survey set out to explore how the opinion leaders—who are often economically better-off—perceive the growing gap between the rich and the poor.

The survey interviewed more than 10,000 key opinion leaders[1] in fifty-two developing countries to find out 1) how concerned they are about income inequality, and 2) whether they perceived a link between equality of opportunity and poverty reduction.

Let’s take a look at the key findings.

Income inequality

The survey data show that majorities of opinion leaders in all but two countries (Uzbekistan and Belarus) perceived the gap between the rich and the poor as “a very big” or “moderately big problem” in their countries.

The World Bank Group collects and analyzes feedback of its stakeholders systematically—on a three-year cycle—in all client countries. The Country Opinion Survey data helps the institution better understand local development context, enhance stakeholder engagement and partnerships, and improve its results on the ground. Tracking stakeholder opinions about effectiveness of the Bank Group’s sectoral support over time is crucial for assessing the progress on top development challenges in countries.

We continue looking at the education sector, as an example, to see how the Country Survey data can help country teams predict stakeholder perceptions and improve effectiveness of Bank’s sectoral work. Let’s look at the trending data, explore what drives the change in numbers, what can be projected for future and why, and how to work with stakeholder perceptions, using a targeted approach.

The first chart shows how the World Bank Group’s stakeholders—partners from the Government, ministries, civil society, private sector, and donor community—have changed their views on the Bank’s work in education in the Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—during the past years.[1]

The World Bank Group surveys its stakeholders from country governments, development organizations, civil society, private sector, academia, and media in all client countries across the globe. Building a dialogue with national governments and non-state partners based of the data received directly from them is an effective way to engage stakeholders in discussions in any development area at any possible level.

Let's take the education sector as an example to see how Country Survey data might influence the engagement that the Bank Group has on this highly prioritized area of work.

When Country Surveys ask what respondents identify as the greatest development priority in their country, overall, education is perceived as a top priority (31%, N=263) in India.1 However, in a large country, stakeholder opinions across geographic locations may differ, and the Country Survey data can be 'sliced and diced' to provide insight into stakeholders' opinions based on their geography, gender, level of collaboration with the Bank Group, etc. In India the data analyzed at the state level shows significant differences in stakeholder perceptions of the importance of education. The survey results can be used as a basis for further in-depth analyses of client's needs in education in different states and, therefore, lead to more targeted engagement on the ground. In the case of the India Country Survey, the Ns at the geographical level may be too small to reach specific conclusions, but this example illustrates the possibility for targeted analysis.

“Education” is at the top of the world’s development agenda, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the focus of the upcoming 2018 World Development Report of the World Bank. The World Bank monitors views of development experts around the globe and finds consistently that “education” is perceived as key to development at different levels.

In the past five years, the World Bank’s Country Opinion Survey Program surveyed more than 25 thousand opinion leaders in the field of development in nearly all client countries across the globe. In some countries the surveys were conducted two or even three times during 2012-2016.

"What is the most important development priority for your country?"[1] was one of the questions to representatives of national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private sector, and civil society in developing countries.

At the global level, -- where 57 million children in the world still remain out of school[2], -- “education” has emerged amongst survey respondents as one of the top two development priorities across the regions.

Percentage and number of opinion leaders seeing “education” as a top development priority by region (123 developing countries, 2012-2016).​

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This blog is a forum for discussing development data issues and open access to data. Open access to data is a key part of the World Bank's commitment to sharing our knowledge to improve people's lives.

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